Bachelor Unclaimed

“Thanks,” she said to the waitress. The woman nodded and smiled before rushing off with the other drinks on her tray.

“Busy night,” Winston said smiling.

“Undoubtedly,” she said, taking a much-needed sip of her drink.

He was sitting across from her, intently holding her gaze while he sipped his. Sensations began overtaking over and they were sensations she’d never felt before meeting this stranger. There was something about being with this man that prevented her from thinking straight. Prevented her from thinking at all.

She felt dizzy and breathless and drew in a deep breath, trying to control all those lusty thoughts taking over her mind. He reached out and took her hand and smoldering heat suffused her. Why did she feel like a stick of dynamite ready to explode whenever he touched her?

“I’d like to make a suggestion,” he said in a deep timbre that continued to wash over her like hot molten desire.

“What kind of suggestion?”

“Come with me.”

She swallowed. “And go where?”

“Upstairs. I have a room in this hotel.”

Ainsley didn’t say anything. She wasn’t dumb. She understood his invitation well and knew what would take place in that room. She had come here tonight for a good time, not to tangle between the sheets with a man. But he was making the thought of such a thing incredibly irresistible since he was stroking needs she hadn’t taken care of for more than a year now.

She didn’t say anything and took another sip of her drink as she continued to watch him with the same intensity that he was watching her. Heat was flowing between them and suddenly she felt an intense need to be alone with him and do what grown folks do.

She didn’t have to probe deep into her mind to discover why she was considering his suggestion. She’d been under a lot of strain lately and the election and all the campaigning had wound her up tight. All that negativity had been a crushing blow and she hadn’t had a means to escape or regroup. Now it was over and her body was looking for a release.

Maybe a night of mindless, overpowering pleasure was just the thing she needed. Chances were high that she wouldn’t see him again since her visit to Hilton Head was short-term.

“Red?”

Lifting her gaze, she tried to fight back sensations that were hurtling around inside her like a violent storm, stroking her needs. She was always someone who hadn’t hesitated going after anything she wanted, so why should she hesitate going after him when she did want him?

After taking another sip of her margarita, she set down her glass and said in a breathless quiver, “Okay let’s go.”

A smile eased to both corners of his lips and his hold on her hand tightened. “All right.”

Releasing her hand, he stood to pull out several bills and tossed them on the table to cover their drinks. And when she stood, he placed his hand at her waist as he led her out of the nightclub.

Chapter 3

Winston was grateful he knew his way around the Regency Resort. Holding Red’s hand firmly in his, he maneuvered their way past the guest elevators to the private one that would take them directly up to his penthouse suite.

Once or twice when they were forced to slow their pace or else plow into people in front of them, he would take her hand and bring it to his lips. And whenever he glanced over at her, she would give him a heated look that assured him that she was still with him all the way. He definitely appreciated that. Although this was not his first one-night stand and he doubted it would be his last, for some reason getting Red up to his suite was of monumental importance right now.

Red.

Hell, he didn’t even know her real name but that didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered to him was he wanted her and he wanted her bad. More than he could recall ever wanting a woman before and that was definitely a new experience for him.

Knowing he would be scoring big tonight, he led Red into the elevator. No sooner had the door swooshed closed behind them, he crushed her to him, backed her against the wall and his mouth came charging down. She wrapped her arms around his neck and parted her lips to return his blazing kiss. He actually felt every part of him become on fire.

Liking her taste, he deepened the kiss. His tongue skillfully moved from one side of her mouth to the other, exploring, tasting, stirring sensations he wanted her to feel. Some primitive force was taking over his senses, somehow trying to convince him that she would be different than all his other one-nighters, but for the life of him, he couldn’t understand or accept that nonsense. Still, a part of him was helpless to control the raging desire fueling him.

The buzzer went off and he remembered that this was the express elevator, which meant they had gotten to the twentieth floor already. He lifted his head and gazed down at her, taking note of her flushed cheeks, her dilated brown eyes staring at him. He took a step back at the same moment the elevator door opened and quickly stepped out, holding firmly to her hands again.

There were only two suites on this floor and they walked toward the one at the end of the hall. Releasing her hand he pulled the key card from his back pants pocket and then turned to her and said, “I didn’t lie. My name is Winston and for the record, I’m not a crazy person or anything. I’m safe.”

She nodded. “And for the record, I’m safe as well and you can continue to call me Red.”

Obviously she had no intention of giving him a name—first, middle or last. If that’s the way she wanted to deal, that was fine with him. The only thing on his mind was making love to her.

“Good enough,” he said quickly, inserting his key card in the door. It clicked and he opened it. Taking her hand again, he smiled and said, “Let the good times roll.”

He then pulled her inside.

Ainsley recalled getting a fleeting glimpse of Winston’s suite before he was all over her, pulling her into his arms and capturing her mouth. The moment their lips locked, his tongue went into action, treating her to all kinds of erotic pleasures while tasting her with openmouthed thoroughness. She’d never been kissed this way before and all coherent thoughts oozed like molten liquid from her brain.

His hands on her backside and thighs had already hiked up her short dress to her waist, and his fingers began working their way underneath the edge of her panties.

Desire was seeping into her pores. It had been a long time since she’d felt a man touch the swelling fullness of her womanhood and the moment he eased a finger between her folds to stroke her clitoris, every part of her began shaking.

This man had a way with his fingers and she clung to him, fearful if she let go he would stop and she didn’t want that. His fingers were plunging back and forth inside of her, stroking her in a sensual rhythm, as he licked the corners of her lips with his tongue. Both his fingers and tongue kept an erotic pace until she was certain she would die from the sweet torture.

“Winston …”

She could barely get out his name as his lips trailed along her chin, stopping only for an occasional scrape of his teeth along her jaw.

“Yeah, Red?” he answered in a tone so sexy it made her breath catch.

“I—I want …”

“Tell me what you want. Tonight I’m your delivery man. Whatever you want, I’ll deliver. Just tell me.”

Evidently the intent was to make her ask … beg or possibly plead, but at that moment, she was past caring. The only thing she wanted was to be taken by him. “I want this,” she said, reaching out and tracing her hand against the front of his pants, caressing the hard bulge there. His manhood felt powerful and large and nearly made her weak in the knees. Intense desire had her pressing her legs together at the same time she cupped his groin.

A hand suddenly grasped her jaw. “You sure that’s what you want?”

She drew in a deep breath. More desire than she could ever think about was seeping into her pores and triggering an intense throbbing in her womb. “Positive.”

From the smile on his face she could only assume he liked her response. In one easy move he took her dress off her body, then he stepped back and she felt the heat of his gaze roam over every inch of her, taking in her red lacy bra and matching panties.

Then he was lifting her in his arms and carrying her across the room to sit her on the high-top table where he quickly proceeded to remove her shoes. In the process he glanced up at her and in a low and guttural tone said, “Just so you’ll know, I plan to ride you hard.”

Before she could react to what he said, his hand began stroking up her thigh in a way that made her breath shallow. His hands cupped her bare bottom and lifted her to tug down her panties past her hips. The feel of his hands on her backside caused a tingling sensation in her nerve endings.

He leaned close to kiss the waxed flesh covering her femininity, and she felt the tip of his tongue trace a trail along the folds. At that moment she wasn’t sure if she would survive his brand of seduction …

But she would die trying.

Winston doubted he’d ever met a more sensuous woman in his entire life. And her scent was doing a number on him, drawing him in and pushing him to take her with an urgency that was driving him insane. And here she sat on his table wearing nothing but a red lacy bra. He couldn’t help but take pause to check out the lush curves of her body.

Straightening, he met her gaze seconds before undoing the front clasp of her bra, releasing the most gorgeous twin globes he ever had the pleasure of seeing. He cupped them, used his fingertips to fondle them, causing the nipples to harden before his eyes. He leaned in and with the tip of his tongue, licked them hard before easing them between his lips to suck them hungrily.

Hearing her groan out his name did something to him. He pulled back to look at her and saw passion and desire in the dark depths of her eyes. She was completely naked now and he intended to get naked, as well.

Kicking off his shoes and reaching down to pull off his socks, he straightened and focused his gazed directly on her as he pulled the belt from his slacks and proceeded to ease them down his legs along with his briefs.

He heard her soft gasp when his throbbing manhood was there in full view, and from the look on her face, she appreciated what she saw. Making quick work of removing his shirt, he moved back to her. His hand spanned her small waist, traced a path around her curves and stroked up her back. He leaned closer and asked in a deep, husky voice, “Sure you still want it?” He then took a step back to stare at her.

All Ainsley could do was stare back while every part of her body throbbed with a need she felt from the top of her head to the soles of her feet. Yes, she still wanted it and refused to think why. From the moment their gazes had connected in the nightclub, something about this man had touched her, sent hot desire rushing all through her bloodstream. She had been sexually drawn to men before, but this one was different. Even now there was something in the depths of his gaze that was making her ache. And he was toting more than a six-pack; the man was so well endowed it should be against the law.

“Red?”

He was waiting on her answer? Seriously? Standing in front of her naked, erect as any man could get and he expected any answer other than “bring it on”? Fine. If he wanted an answer then she would give him one. “Yes, just as sure as you’re standing there naked with that pointed directly at me,” she said of his erection.

He nodded slowly, looking at her beneath gorgeous long lashes. A satisfied smile curved his lips. And before she could draw in her next breath, he swept her off the table into his arms.

Winston headed for the bedroom and once there, he glanced down at her and she looked up at him with those gorgeous brown eyes. And then there was all that hair on her head, those beautiful spiral curls. He liked it. He liked her.

He placed her on the bed and immediately joined her there, going straight for her mouth and kissing her with a hunger that made blood rush all through his body. Shifting to move over her, he eased a hard thigh between her soft ones.

Releasing her mouth he went straight for her breasts, remembering how sweet they’d tasted earlier and devouring them like a starved man. She twisted beneath him and her moans echoed through the room in a heated call of need and desire.

When he lifted her hips, instinctively she wrapped her naked limbs around him and he sucked in a deep breath at the feel of her wet femininity pressed against his flesh. Then in an unexpected move, she slipped from beneath him and pushed him onto his back.

Their gazes locked for a brief moment before she lowered her head between his legs and took him into her mouth.

“Oh hell …”

Those were the only words he could groan from his lips before a tirade of sensations swept over him. He reached out and grabbed hold of the mass of her hair but she kept her mouth fixed on him. No matter how much he tugged, she wouldn’t let him go.

The woman was letting him have it, feasting on him, and making him groan out words he probably wouldn’t remember in the morning. He felt as if every inch of his skin was electrified, unbelievably sensitized. A multitude of new sensations, some he’d never experienced before, flooded his body as she licked her tongue over every inch of him.

And when he felt his body about to explode he tried pushing her away, but she locked her mouth down on him with the steely pressure of a suction cup, refusing to let him hold anything back.

“Red!”

His body quaked, shivering in a release so profound and powerful he felt pushed way over the edge. A different kind of intensity fired his loins and a sense of awareness labored down hard on him. Not being able to take her brand of torture any longer, he reached under his pillow to retrieve the condom package he’d put there earlier when he’d assumed Sophie would be his bedmate.

He quickly slipped on the condom with the experience of a man who’d done this, with or without a female audience, a number of times.

She automatically lifted her hips when he moved to settle between them. The scent of their aroused bodies filled the air like an aphrodisiac, intoxicating him, destroying the last shred of self-control he might have had.

Effectively pushed over the edge with no return, he slid fully inside her, going deep and filling her with every aroused inch of him. She let out a deep moan and her legs tightened around him, pulling him in deeper.

Winston began moving, establishing a rhythm, and the sound of flesh against flesh mingled with their moans, filling the room. He’d warned her that he would take her hard and he wasn’t backing down. Every thrust into her body was with a purpose, meant to drive them closer to the satisfaction they both urgently sought.

She screamed the exact moment his body bucked as intense spasms tore through him. He murmured something, not sure exactly what, as he tilted her hips at an angle that would make her aware of just how deep inside her he was.

Screaming again, her inner muscles clamped down and triggered a multitude of sensations that had his body convulsing. This was one hell of a sexual mating and he doubted he would ever forget it.

She dragged in a deep, quivering breath and he adjusted his position to lie beside her and draw her into his arms. “I got this room for two days. Stay with me.”

She leaned back and looked up at him. “Stay here?”

“Yes. You’re on the island alone, right?” he asked her.

“Yes.”

“So am I, so there’s no reason we can’t spend another day and night together.”

Ainsley was about to tell him that she could think of several reasons. But that was before he leaned down and claimed a nipple with his mouth, shooting all kinds of sensations through her. “Say you’ll stay,” he murmured against her lips.

She was about to tell him there was no way she could stay, but then he lowered his hands to the juncture of her thighs. His fingers began caressing her womanly core, igniting new sensations to stir within her and causing sexual need lined with anticipation to strip her senses. At that moment she couldn’t turn him down for anything. Somehow in between gasps of pleasure she murmured, “I’ll stay.”

Chapter 4

The next morning Ainsley opened her eyes when she heard the sound of the shower. It was time to make her break. She’d only pretended to be sleeping and now she needed to get the hell out of there.

Scooting off the bed, she looked around for her bra, found it and swiftly put it on. Leaving the bedroom, she found her dress and panties where they had been taken off her. Wiggling into her dress she wadded up her panties and quickly shoved them into her purse while sliding her feet into her shoes. Time was of the essence and she was determined to be gone before Winston got out of the shower.

Winston.

For crying out loud, she had spent the entire night with a man and she didn’t even know his full name. But then, she thought, hurriedly moving toward the door, he knew none of hers, so what did that say about him?

At some point last night she recalled him asking her to spend the day and another night with him and she’d foolishly agreed. But now that she had reclaimed all her senses, there was no way she would spend two nights of marathon sex with a man she didn’t know. It was bad enough she had spent one night with him.

Before opening the door, she glanced around, really seeing the suite for the first time. It was humongous, nearly twice the size of her condo back in New York. She wondered what he did for a living to afford such extravagances. Last night she’d been too busy to appreciate the elegance of the oceanfront two-bedroom suite with its separate living and dining rooms, as well as a nice kitchen nook with a high-top table and chairs.

Ainsley blushed when she remembered what they’d done on that table, which was why she needed to leave now. Winston whatever-his-name had the ability to make her do things she normally didn’t do … like one-night stands. And then to agree to spend a day and another night with him, undoubtedly for more of the same mind-blowing sex. There was no doubt in her mind it would be enjoyable, but then her brain cleared from all that pleasure and she recalled that he had had condoms stashed under his pillow. That meant he had intended to bring some woman back here last night for a treat and she’d been the willing delicacy.

Easing shut the door behind her, she swiftly walked toward the elevator, ignoring the curious looks from an older couple who were stepping out of it. She didn’t need a mirror to realize all those passion marks on the side of her face, neck and upper chest were visible to the naked eye. She hoped she could make it out of the hotel and to the parking lot without too many people staring. It was early morning and she was wearing the outfit from last night as if she was ready to go partying. If the Claxton news reporter Luis had paid to dog her heels all during the election were to see her now, he would certainly have a story. She could just imagine the headlines: Ainsley St. James spent the night with a man she didn’t know.

You couldn’t get any more scandalous than that, she thought, finally leaving the hotel without making a spectacle of herself. A few moments later she was in her car and driving away, and it was only then that she released the breath she’d been holding.

It wouldn’t be so bad if every cell in her body didn’t vibrate from all the memories that were flowing through her head, memories her mind just refused to let go of. Like how with Winston’s help she had managed to quench a feverish hunger that had been inside her, a hunger she hadn’t known she’d had until he had exposed it in the most delectable way. Even now her nipples were jutting hard against her dress in memory of how much attention he’d given them.

Not to be outdone, the area between her legs was twitching, remembering how his hands, mouth and shaft had invaded her in a way that she would never forget. It had taken coming to Hilton Head to meet a man capable of making her scream at the top of her lungs.

Glancing at the clock on her car’s console, she was surprised to see it wasn’t quite seven in the morning, as she continued driving toward the Inner Harbor Resort. She tried not to think about what Winston’s reaction would be when he walked out of the shower and found her gone.

As it stood now, he didn’t know a single thing about her and that was a good thing since last night meant nothing to either of them. There was no doubt in her mind that women came and went from his bed in a steady stream.

As for her, she would spend the next ten days relaxing, and then at some point she needed to call her former employer to try and get her old job back as a journalist for The New York Times.

She had resigned from her job in August of last year, certain she would win the election because she had the backing of the entire town. Besides, at the time it had been an uncontested race. So to her way of thinking, it should have been a sure win for her. However, at the last minute, Higgins, a newcomer to town, had made a surprise move and thrown his hat into the ring. In no time at all his campaign had strategized by going after her character, literally cutting it into threads.

The election in November had been a shocker since Higgins had won by a landslide victory. She had been ready to pack up and leave Claxton and return to New York, and would have done so had it not been for her father’s heart attack the day after the election.

Ainsley was certain the negative campaign had taken a toll on her parents, her father in particular since she was a daddy’s girl. She felt somehow responsible and since she was her parents’ only child, she’d remained in Claxton for the past two months during her father’s recuperation period. Now he was a lot better and had returned to work last week.

And it was time for her to do the same.

As she continued to drive to the resort, her mind drifted and she couldn’t help remembering last night. Why hadn’t she listened to her best friend, Tessa Spencer? Tessa had warned her the Sparrow would be full of men with only one thing on their mind. Your cookie. “Unless you’re prepared for them to gobble it up, then go someplace else,” Tessa had said. But Ainsley had gone anyway. It wasn’t that she hadn’t believed Tessa. She hadn’t placed a lot of significance on the warning because she’d been certain she could handle any situation. She was a big girl and could take care of herself.

Only thing for certain, she hadn’t been prepared for the likes of Winston what’s-his-name and last night he had been hers completely. Every single sexy, make-a-woman-drool part of him. And she had acted like a greedy hussy. It didn’t take much to remember how those dark eyes would stare her down with that I-want-to-make-love-to-you look, stimulating within her a need she hadn’t known existed.

Her hand tightened on the steering wheel when she brought the rental car to a stop at a traffic light. Then there were those naughty messages he’d whispered in her ear right after they’d made love that first time when he held her in his arms. They had made her breathless anticipating him doing just what he said he would do. And he had. With an experience she didn’t want to wonder how he got, he had used his tongue to taste every part of her body, inch by sensual inch. He seemed especially partial to her breasts. But then other parts of her hadn’t been neglected, either.

While he’d been atop her, stroking into her body in a rhythm that nearly drove her insane, she had looked up at him and seen the intense expression in the hard angles and planes of his face. She had gotten absorbed in the deep, dark eyes staring back at her as he sent her over the edge. His lovemaking had been so profound it took her breath away just thinking about it. He had definitely been her fantasy.